Chance Meeting
Amelia's little red-edged suitcase was hidden, already packed, under her bed, ready for anything. Though it had been weeks, she had never quite stopped hoping. The Doctor was real—realer than grownups knew, anyway. Realer than their concept of the world.
She was walking home from school through an avenue of fallen autumn leaves, gold and red and orange and brown and violet, rustling and laughing with every step. She had decided to take the Long Way home today—all she wanted was Alone Time for the moment.
So it was a bit of a shock when she came across the tall, thin figure of a man, covered in a long, dirty tan coat, sprawled in the leaves across the path.
"Are you all right?" she called, concern instantly washing away her annoyance. The man started, rolling over and twisting into a sitting position.
"I'm fine—" He coughed behind his hand, clutching his chest. "Just a dizzy spell…"
Funny dust motes, Amelia thought, watching them dart and shimmer as they weaved around him, catching the sun. He coughed again into his hand.
"A forest on fire," he choked out. "It's beautiful."
"Should I call help?" Amelia asked. He shook his head.
"No use. I'll be off in a minute. I only came here by accident. But I'm glad I did." He staggered to his feet.
"Have a fantastic life, Amelia," he wheezed, walking off into the trees. Amelia squinted, thinking she could catch the faintest trace of blue, but it was probably only her imagination, since she'd been looking for that box for weeks.
How did he know her name?
She shrugged, dismissing it, and continued towards home.
Maybe the Doctor would be back tonight.
Author's Note: I watched "The Eleventh Hour" and then went back and watched a couple of episodes with the Tenth Doctor tonight. And this is what you get. (It's 9 p.m. and I should probably go to bed because I'm getting all punchy and rant-y.)
If it was unclear, this is set in the sequence when Ten is going back to see all his companions one last time before his regeneration. (Hence the energy mist, which Amelia mistakes for dust motes.) And he runs into little Amy by accident, several weeks after his future regeneration left to make the "quick five-minute hop into the future." Which, on second thought, could be the reason why he came to Amy in the first (second?) place in "The Eleventh Hour." Timey wimey! :-P
If you were wondering how he knew her name... weeeellll...
I'm rationalizing that by saying that since he's so close to regeneration, his ability to feel the way the timestream flows is going a little sideways. Aka, he's unconsciously receiving memories from his future self (selves?), but that'll go back to normal once he's recovered from the regeneration. According to my headcanon, regeneration is a pretty awkward time, with strange effects on the timeline itself-so it's not only disorienting and painful, but can also be kind of dangerous to the way Time works, which is probably why most of the time the Doctor tries to get back to the TARDIS before regenerating, so the TARDIS can compensate for the effect and keep it from getting all messed-up.
Voila. Unintentional worldbuilding. This is what I do with my life.
Well, hopefully I broke all your little hearts with this... *sinister villain laugh* No, seriously. I hope you enjoyed the story and Big Things are coming in the future, if I can ever buckle down and get them done.
God Bless!
